Account data needed a dependable home
Company and member information had to be easier to inspect and update without switching tools.
← Selected work
Dialogue · B2B product discovery
Designing a clearer account-management portal
A research-led concept that reorganized company profiles, billing, subscriptions, and support tasks into a focused experience for account teams.
At a glance
- ProblemAccount managers relied on the portal plus Slack bots and IT request templates to do routine work.
- What I didI interviewed account managers, mapped the tools around the portal, and proposed an information architecture that separates internal operations from customer self-service, then prototyped it in two stages.
- ResultA research-backed concept direction at the discovery stage. It did not ship, so there are no launch metrics.
From research to concept
Three artifacts, one line of reasoning
Interviews surfaced the needs, the ecosystem map showed where the portal fell short, and the information architecture proposed a new structure. Select any artifact to jump to it.
Project snapshot
Untangling account work spread across systems
Dialogue’s portal served both internal account managers and customer-side administrators. I explored how to separate internal operational work and build a focused portal around what each group needed.
- My role
- Product Designer leading research and design with the Product Manager
- Users
- Internal account managers and designated administrators at client organizations
- Focus
- Company profiles, members, billing, subscriptions, and support workflows
- Methods
- User interviews, synthesis, workflow mapping, information architecture, and prototyping
- Stage
- Discovery and concept development
The challenge
Account work extended far beyond the portal
Account managers used the portal alongside Slack bots, support-request templates, and help from technical teams. The scattered toolset made routine tasks hard to find and hard to complete consistently.
Design challenge
How might we create a dedicated account-management experience that reflects real workflows while separating internal operations from customer self-service?
Research synthesis
Turning interview evidence into product requirements
I grouped interview findings into common themes and turned them into must-have capabilities for a future tool.
Support was part of the workflow
Slack bots and IT requests were not edge cases; they represented tasks the portal did not adequately support.
Internal and client needs were different
A clearer boundary was needed between operational administration and customer self-service.
Current-state ecosystem
Mapping the work outside the product
Before proposing screens, I documented the external tools and support channels account managers used to finish their jobs.
Existing product
Understanding the portal before changing it
I mapped the current interface and its connections across billing, organizations, member records, imports, and profile details.
Information architecture
Organizing the future product around account work
The proposed hierarchy separated customer-facing administration from internal operational tools while preserving the relationships among organizations, members, subscriptions, and billing.
Design progression
Moving from structure to task-level interfaces
Low-fidelity wireframes tested the structure of organization lists, profiles, billing information, and editing workflows before visual refinement.
Prototype evolution
Two stages of concept development
The first prototype made the information architecture tangible. After product-planning conversations with the Product Manager, a later concept expanded the feature direction.
Initial high-fidelity concept
Translating the proposed hierarchy into an interactive product direction.
Evolved feature concept
Extending the experience after product-manager review and feature brainstorming.
Proposed product model
A focused workspace for recurring account tasks
Organization profiles
View and maintain company-level information in one dependable location.
Member administration
Inspect, add, and update member records within the appropriate organization.
Billing and subscriptions
Bring financial and plan information into the same account context.
Guided support
Reduce reliance on scattered tools by supporting recurring operational needs directly.
Outcome
A clearer product direction grounded in real work
The project produced a synthesis of account-manager needs, maps of the current ecosystem and portal, a proposed information architecture, low-fidelity workflows, and two prototype stages.
This was a discovery project, so there are no launch metrics. If it moved forward, the next step would be to test the proposed information architecture with account managers and measure task completion on recurring work such as updating a company profile or changing billing details.
Reflection
The workaround is part of the user experience
Mapping only the portal would have missed much of the real job. Slack bots, IT requests, and manual support showed where the product no longer matched users’ responsibilities.
The most valuable move wasn’t a screen. It was widening the research frame before deciding what belonged in the new portal.
Selected work
See the shipped work
Two Canada Life projects went from research to release in the group-benefits portal.